First off every protagonist needs to be super cool, cause if they are then the enemies won't want to kill him. Cause if you're gonna shoot a guy with a blunt and shutters you're just kind of a jerk. Also every protagonist has to be a great leader, and all great leaders have a suave rug of hair.

The armor needed an upgrade so I added some armbands that grant invisibility, since it's impossible to shoot what you can't see. Also I have an affiliate at a certain shoe company who upgraded those kicks.

Not enough survival? Well a great defense is a great offense, and nothing is more offensive than a giant buster blade. Still not enough? Well then how about being constantly followed and surrounded by the Great Wall of China? It kept out the Huns for a couple centuries so I'm sure it can keep out lasers and enemy gundams that want to steal the limelight, or the lives of your people.

And finally, I know this wasn't part of the contest, but a great gundam needs a great pilot. Now Mikazuki is great indeed, but Barbatos deserves nothing best than the greatest pilot of all. Shia Lebouf. Unlike Mikazuki, Shia would just do it. Do what? It. How? He just does. How can you possibly beat an enemy you can't even understand?

With all accounted for, it's just not possible for Barbatos to not survive. In fact, it won't lose in ANY season, of any anime, ever. It's so good we need to give it a new name.

So I realize the contest says that we have to equip the Barbatos to last through the series, but what I think is important to remember is that Barbatos was announced for the new Gundam Extreme Vs Force game, so not only does it have to last through the entire series, we have to make sure it can hold its own against the greats of the Gundam franchise.

Lucky for you, I am an expert Gundam nerd and master mobile suit designer, so I think I can design some armaments that are up to par for the challenges our gradually upgrading friend will face.

Now, the first thing you may notice is our friendly mustachioed Gundam mounted on its back. That is indeed a Turn A Gundam's torso, straight from the Correct Century. Somehow. Now, you may be wondering what this silly addition is for, and I'll tell you! It's a nice extra set of arms, can use the Turn A's 360 degree head rotation to see behind it, and offers some moral support if ol' Barbatos is feeling down. Plus, if you've seen Turn A Gundam, you should know the main reason this is here! ...Or if not, seriously, go watch Turn A Gundam, it's good stuff. You can buy it in the States now. You have no excuse. But let's just say, I just raved about the most powerful thing on here first. I planned to put on two, but let's just save that for the mid-season upgrade.

While the Barbatos already has a katana of its own, I thought it was kinda lame, so I just borrowed the Astray Red Frame's Gerbera Straight. Beam sabers are great, but physical swords are awesome!
I also felt it needed a ranged weapon option, so I threw on the AGE-3's SigMaxiss Rifle. It's strong and it's a cool rifle, so what's not to love?

And of course, like any good protagonist Gundam, we need some Newtype controlled weapons. So since the Full Armor unicorn is one of my favorite MS in the franchise, I think we needed those Shield Funnels. Flying shields with beam gatling guns on them. Awesome.
I also thought it might be lonely in the battlefield so I gave it some GX-Bits. They've got Satellite Cannons mounted on them, so they can clear things out without a problem.
...What do you mean Minazuki's not a Newtype? Can we just do like in Super Robot Wars Z where you just throw Amuro or Quattro in the Turn A until Loran's stats are good? No? Well, I suppose we'll find a way.

But you may be asking, how does it fly? And my answer is it just does. But we need to get maximum style points, so I gave it its own personal Delta Plus, complete with its own Riddhe. Hi, Riddhe! It was gonna be the Flying Armors they use in Zeta Gundam, but I couldn''t get a good ima-I mean, we just needed more style points!

So that's what you can see on the outside. What you can't see is that we added in a full Psycoframe, a Super Mode, Phase Shift Armor, an I-Field, a GN Drive with Trans-Am, and some other wacky stuff to ensure the Barbatos can take on anything in its way.

Behold fools! The only weapon truly deserved to be wielded by a Gundam. What better way for it to survive till the end than having Excalibur talk about how great he is. That alone will last till the end of the series. In the immortal words of Excalibur:

"The retired soldier never dies, he just wastes away....wait, what am I saying? Of course you're going to die!!! Have no fear. I will stand witness to the very end."